WOW! Hats off to the supplier. Great looking roses and fantastic root systems. I hope you saved the one small rose. A lot of times they go crazy in the second year.

Do plant the little one too. It will catch up.

Wow... impressive customer service!

Wonderful looking plants and amazing costumer service! Hope they do great for you!

Glad they did, Rifis. Hope Raspberry Cupcake proves itself to be a favorite for you.

Moses.

good to know, thanks!

I ordered the bell nursery brindabella purple prince, got a shameful specimen (and most of my roses came as bands so I don’t expect anything massive or flowering) that I am not even sure will make it, with a pink princess tag. I contacted bell nursery twice and never heard back.

I should have contacted home depot directly within 2 days I think but didn’t know/realize it. I think I can still return it, but I have been so annoyed that even the things I usually buy from home depot I have been purposefully getting elsewhere and I don’t want to even step foot there. I feel bad shipping it back because that weak thing would probably die. Hopefully it’ll live, but I really don’t need another pink rose. But I had decided never to order plants online from home depot (other previous bad experiences), good to know that at least one vendor stands by their product.

Rifis,

Are your Raspberry Cupcakes own root or grafted? The thick section just below where the canes emerge doesn't look normal to me...to wide in diameter, but what do I know? They could be tissue cultured, which may be the reason for such a, " big belly.". It would stand to reason if they were tissue cultured seeing Raspberry Cupcake was just introduced in the USA in 2023. The rush to get abundant marketable stock is shortened by tissue culturing.

I ask because I just purchased only one Raspberry Cupcake bare root from Home Depot which rose is supposed to come at week's end. If mine is grafted, unless upon multiflora, it will very likely sulk like every other non-multiflora root stock rose I have grown. Taking an eternity regarding putting on size, but bloom a lot it will. Nevertheless, it will not gain much size from year to year....never reaching its mature size listed in the literature in a reasonable amount of time.

Our Raspberry Cupcakes are supposed to be #1 grade according to National Plant Network. Yours are excellent looking, except for the puny one which NPN replaced excellently. However those chopped off roots and less than 3 nice canes does not make them #1 grades. They're still very nice anyway.

Moses.

Moses, I’m no expert. They’re potted up now, even the little one (att: Ken and Sheila), but my impression was that they’re own root. First, the price - I thought budding was a dying art commanding a premium price. And I don’t remember seeing a ”stub” where the multiflora top growth would have been cut off after the budded rose grew in the field (I’m thinking back to when Rachel explained to me the timeline and steps the final product took at Niagara-on-the Lake). Several times in the past, I would describe here a grafted containerized Kordes rose, grown by Ivy Acres (in Conard Pyle‘d old production facilities), for sale at my local HD, only for Chris to gently point out that it was OR. I’m no expert.

I didn’t realize they were supposed to be #1 grade. I do remember seeing an image of maybe 5 thick canes -I took that as fantasy (given the price). When I placed the order, I believed they would be OR bareroots, and believed that being OR, they would not match the size of a grafted BR.

I need to research rose growing from tissue culture.

philipatx: yes. Good point. I think my problem is that I’m stuck in a time warp.

Mine were own root and smaller than rifis. I assumed their images were just random pictures they posted instead of reality. I guess I have gotten so used to paying more for smaller plants that I am not a good judge of quality.

Rifis,

Stuck in a time warp here, too.

Two things I just cannot get used to, which are rampant examples of 'TODAY':

1. Gratuitous profanity in movies.....I used to be a movie buff, but when I hear a profanity, or 4 letter word used, no matter how well acted, the film gets a low "D.". I rarely watch/go to movies anymore.....which is quite a change for me since I have an extensive film library, all collecting dust.....and these are the ones left after clearing out the offenders.

2. Ingratitude from gift recipients....family members being the worst offenders, especially the young ones. No training by the ungrateful parents make for obnoxious princelings and princesslings. The process of time has exacerbated the trend of unthankfulness exponentially. I see it only getting worse.

Please forgive my rant, so sorry!

Moses.

I hear you, rifis. EVERYTHING seems expensive when you hit a certain stage. (Customer Service *has* come and long way thanks to the power of online reviews though.)
It doesn't seem long ago that Chamblees had a reputation for selling top quality plants for $10. I think they are multiple times that (near $50?) under the current ownership.
Living in Central Texas near the growing fields, I can still get bargains, but not like the good old days, and I fear trading unpatented material now with RRD rampant everywhere.

I came across this just now, Moses, at NYT ”Social Qs” column:

Personalized Embroidery, and Not a Stitch of Thanks

I am an older gent. I used to make and sell patchwork pillows that I embroidered with customers’ names. They were popular! Now, I make them for young relatives. Some recipients (and their parents) don’t acknowledge the gifts. I’m OK with that: Gifts don’t require anything in return. But should I tell them they can remove the embroidery easily and donate the pillows? I assume they don’t like them.

GREAT UNCLE

If I were you, my feelings would be hurt. So, I’m glad yours aren’t. It amazes me how thoughtless many people have become about thanking others for gifts. It takes one minute! But I wouldn’t follow up or assume that recipients dislike the pillows. They’re just being careless. I hope these experiences don’t dissuade you from crafting on. And I wish I could convince people how good it feels — for both parties — to thank others for their kindness.

@C T I’ve also had poor quality from Bell Nursery. NPN sends better plants for sure.